Post-Mission Traditions
by LyriaFrost
Summary: Neji, Lee, and Tenten have little traditions, when one has been sent on a mission without the others. Of course, they would never tell anyone else about them. They have an image to uphold after all.


This is just another story that I started forever ago, and only finished today. I really have this weird obsession with Neji, Lee, and Tenten, they just inspire me to write so many stories. And as a warning, this one is incredible sappy at some parts, probably more so than it needs to be, but oh well :)

Disclaimer: none of this belongs to me

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Tenten stumbled through the door into her apartment, groaning as she collapsed on her bed, not even caring about the bloodstains she was spreading. She had just come back from a difficult mission, one she had been assigned to along with two Jonin and three other Chunin from the village, none of which were her usual teammates. Things had started out badly, with cold rain and horrible weather on the entire trip. When they arrived at the rendezvous location, their contacts never showed up, and late at night they were ambushed by a group of rogue ninja. The one stroke of fortune was that none of the rogue ninja were particularly powerful, so the Konoha shinobi were able to get away without casualties, or even life-threatening injuries.

But Tenten was still tired, sore, covered in scratches and bruises, and all she wanted was to sleep for a day and eat a good meal. First though, she needed to shower and bandage her wounds, just as soon as she could force her unresponsive body to move again. It seemed like an impossible task though, and Tenten just lay on the bed drifting in and out of sleep. She had no idea how much time had passed before she was awoken by the door opening again, letting in her two very loud teammates. They came into her room, poking and prodding her and asking if she was okay until she growled at them to shut up so she could sleep in peace. Of course, both of them had already heard about what had happened on the failed mission and had come rushing back to make sure she was okay.

Lee was sitting in the corner, crying something about glorious youth fighting back an attack, but Neji had already calmed himself. He dragged Lee out of the room, and when they returned in a few minutes, both boys were calm and serious, something that rarely happened with Lee. They brought damp clothes, and Neji checked her wounds while Lee went and ran a warm bath. When they were satisfied that none of the injuries were life threatening, they washed off most of the blood and dirt, before forcing Tenten to get up and go take a bath. She had been very comfortable on the bed, and resented having to get up, but understood the need to get clean. And once she was all done, she felt much better, but even more tired if that was possible.

When she stumbled back out in her pajamas, Neji had prepared the medi-kit, and she sat on the edge of the bed while the boys treated and bandaged all of her wounds. They tucked her into bed, propping her up against pillows. Lee brought in a very large tray filled with all of her favorite foods. It was somewhat of a tradition for the three of them, whenever one came back from a mission, especially when injured, they would all gather together on that person's bed and have dinner together there. So Tenten ranted about her stupid mission and stupid teammates and stupid weather while they all enjoyed the delicious food. It was always better when they were all three together; things were always a little strange when parts of the team were out on missions.

Soon enough though, all the food was gone (hardly surprising with the amount that Lee could put away) and Tenten was constantly interrupting her own stories with yawns. Neji cleared all the dishes away to be washed tomorrow, while Lee rearranged Tenten's bed so she would be comfortable. She wasn't severely injured, but anytime one teammate went on a mission, the others got the right to fuss over them when they returned, so Tenten let the boys do whatever made them happy. After the horrible mission, she was just happy to be back in her comfortable bed with warm food and her best friends. Neji and Lee climbed into bed with Tenten and they all made themselves comfortable together. Though they usually only shared a bed when one of them was severely injured or having nightmares, it still was not an uncommon occurrence for these three. They were more than just teammates, as close as siblings, and though they would never tell anyone else about all their traditions, it was all just something they had come to expect and need.


End file.
